Underfloor Insulation

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#435623 5-Feb-2011 11:31

So had a second company around this morning. Will get the official quote on Monday but also aound $2000 for the underfloor insulation. So about $1300 with the eeca subsidy. He did think the vapour barrier wasn't necessary given the house is bone dry underneath. Also said our tin foil was rubbish because some bright spark builder punched drainage holes in it - which is apparently very common.

sbiddle

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#435631 5-Feb-2011 12:24

Can you get underfloor insulation with the subsidy just by itself? I was under the impression to get an ECCA subsidy for any insulation (underfloor, hea pump etc) you had to have adequate ceiling insulation in place?

tchart

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#435791 6-Feb-2011 06:44

sbiddle: Can you get underfloor insulation with the subsidy just by itself? I was under the impression to get an ECCA subsidy for any insulation (underfloor, hea pump etc) you had to have adequate ceiling insulation in place?

You can if there is no option to put in ceiling insulation ie we have a Lockwood and it has no roof cavity

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#435793 6-Feb-2011 08:21

Vapour drainage holes in a reflective type barrier are standard and most likely part of the building code.

timmmay

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#435959 6-Feb-2011 18:46

Underfloor made a small difference to temperature in my old place, but between it and the moisture barrier (thick plastic) the dampness and smell of the house improved hugely.

Ceiling insulation makes a really massive difference. It'd almost be worth getting a new ceiling put in and batts in between them.

Between ceiling, wall, and underfloor insulation, plus a heat pump, my house went from the coldest i'd ever lived in to a nice warm place. Still not as good as a brand new place but hugely improved.

Small gaps apparently make a big difference to insulation.

NonprayingMantis

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#436074 6-Feb-2011 22:37

tchart: FYI Average/typical costs are listed on the EECA website;

http://www.energywise.govt.nz/node/6828

Mine break downs to;

Underfloor Insulation = $23/sqm
Vapour Barrier = $12/sqm

The underfloor is slightly more ($23 vs $18 - could be difference in material) but the vapour barier is more than double.

thanks for that link, you may have just saved me a few hundred bucks. We had a quote today for ceiling and underfloor insulation, and a moisture barrier.

The ceiling and underfloor came in at $20/sqm and $24/sqm respectively, which is a fair bit more than the estimtaes on that website ($15 and $18), but like you the moisture barrier came in at way over the estimate there. Our quote was $20/sqm for that part(!!), and the estimate from your link is only $5.
My wife was keen to go ahead with it all, but after showing her your link she has agreed to get some more quotes.

the guy who gave me that quote can go shove it up his own bumhole. :P

mattwnz

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#436082 6-Feb-2011 23:19

boby55: Get a quote from a different supplier. My Guess as it was a cold call it won't be the best deal out.

Personally we have just installed the Expol underfloor insulation which cost around $750 but we installed that our self so no labour costs

you don't get any grant for installing it yourself, but it is very easy to do. BUt with the grant you probably aren't saving anything doing it yourself. I think these energy grants were solely created to try to get NZ out of the recession, by creating this sort of unskilled work. Aren't lockwoods normally build on concrete slabs?

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mattwnz

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#436084 6-Feb-2011 23:22

tchart:
sbiddle: Can you get underfloor insulation with the subsidy just by itself? I was under the impression to get an ECCA subsidy for any insulation (underfloor, hea pump etc) you had to have adequate ceiling insulation in place?

You can if there is no option to put in ceiling insulation ie we have a Lockwood and it has no roof cavity

I am pretty sure that in new lockwoods, there is insulation between the timber layer and the roof cladding. It depends when it was built, but I believe it has been a requirement for houses to have ceiling insulation since at least teh late 60's.

Jaxson

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#436124 7-Feb-2011 09:06

mattwnz: you don't get any grant for installing it yourself, but it is very easy to do. BUt with the grant you probably aren't saving anything doing it yourself. I think these energy grants were solely created to try to get NZ out of the recession, by creating this sort of unskilled work.

Totally agree. You basically get the full priced product installed for free. Opposite to kiwi DIY philosophy of sell me the raw product at a cheap price and i'll do the labour work. You say unskilled but in truth it does have to be installed correctly and in some cases a home owner may be more prepared to take the extra time to do this right as well.

Yeah if you have no ceiling insulation you really need to address this but obviously the costs will be huge. Especially if this means taking off the roofing iron. There must be some sort of cavity between roofing material (iron) and the topside of the ceiling material. Best case scenario would be that you needed to replace the roofing iron and could through some batts in there at the same time sort of thing?!

tchart

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#439229 14-Feb-2011 12:57

Still waiting for second quote to be confimed but the third one is $2500 incl vapour barrier. Per square metres cost is $27.50 for insulation and $5.75 for vapour barrier.

This company can arrange the Hutt Mana charitable trust grant which knocks off another $800. So all up its only $900. Score!

muzzal

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#882454 21-Aug-2013 21:58

I'm looking at insulating my house, which is a '80s single level cedar townhouse with original foil underfloor insulation and poorly fitting thin batts in the ceiling.

Most companies have run out of Energywise subsidy allocation, so they are happy to offer ceiling-only insulation. Given that underfloor insulation will more than double the total cost, I'm trying to figure out whether it's worth the extra cost to insulate underfloor, or just go for ceiling.

Would welcome your opinions and experiences.

Cheers.

Regs

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#882459 21-Aug-2013 22:06

muzzal: I'm looking at insulating my house, which is a '80s single level cedar townhouse with original foil underfloor insulation and poorly fitting thin batts in the ceiling.

Most companies have run out of Energywise subsidy allocation, so they are happy to offer ceiling-only insulation. Given that underfloor insulation will more than double the total cost, I'm trying to figure out whether it's worth the extra cost to insulate underfloor, or just go for ceiling.

Would welcome your opinions and experiences.

Cheers.

i'd definately recommend the underfloor insulation if you have a timber floor. you'll use the heaters less, or less intensively, which will save you a few $$ on your energy bills during winter

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mattwnz

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#882461 21-Aug-2013 22:12

muzzal: I'm looking at insulating my house, which is a '80s single level cedar townhouse with original foil underfloor insulation and poorly fitting thin batts in the ceiling.

Most companies have run out of Energywise subsidy allocation, so they are happy to offer ceiling-only insulation. Given that underfloor insulation will more than double the total cost, I'm trying to figure out whether it's worth the extra cost to insulate underfloor, or just go for ceiling.

Would welcome your opinions and experiences.

Cheers.

Have you thought about doing it yourself. A lot of the cost is labour, so you maybe able to cover the whole lot if you DIY it. Insulation is not rocket science. Underfloor they do sell kits, you do have to be careful not to get it in contact with wires, and probably pipes either, so theyu should be isolated.

timmmay

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#882468 21-Aug-2013 22:24

Ceiling will have far more effect, especially if the foil is in good condition preventing drafts. Under floor made little practical difference to warmth here, but with a ground sheet made it drier and took away the damp smell.

Under floor can be horrible to diy. Getting sheet maybe not so bad, need tape and stakes. Ceiling isn't as bad but still not nice. Any gaps at all even 1cm is bad. Paying someone is a good idea. If you have down lights don't bother doing anything until you remove them or replace with F rated sealed led units.

Do ceiling now, under floor when you can afford, unless dampness is a problem.

mattwnz

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#882477 21-Aug-2013 23:03

Ceilings are pretty basic, if it is a conventional steep pitched roof,where you have an attic. However some of the work I have seen some installers do is pretty poor. Including big gaps and it not fully puished down in the gaps. Even seen them installing right up to old downlighters. When you do it yourself, you can be assured that you get the insulation put in right, and you can take as much time as your want. Installers will usually try to do it as quickly as possible. Also if they have down lighters, it can be a good time to update them to IC ones (or at least CA ones). IC ones you can insulate over the top, and you can either install conventional CFL or LED light bulbs in them. Halcyon now do a nice IC fitting that takes these bulbs.

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